Wednesday, July 15

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - July 2009

July is a time of transition in my garden... when the spring bloomers are definitely finished, and the late summer blooms are just beginning. The change is just beginning, too: I have a LOT of work to do in the garden today, including ripping out pea plants and getting the last of the veggie garden in the ground! So without further ado, here's a mostly pictorial rundown of what's blooming in my garden today.

Vines & Shrubs: 'Jackmanii' clematis and coral honeysuckle are both in bloom on the vine side. Only one shrub is showing off right now, though. It's the pretty 'Sykes' Dwarf' oakleaf hydrangea, shown here with 'Black & Blue' salvia guaranitica and magenta snapdragon blooms:

Herbs, Veggies, Fruits (Edibles): 'Ozark' strawberries, my thornless blackberries (which also have berries close to harvest), 3 different eggplants, 6 different peppers, 8 different tomatoes, 2 kinds of basil, 2 kinds of oregano, marjoram, 'Grosso' lavender, and one branch of my 'Newe Ya'ar' salvia officinalis. That's a lot to choose from in terms of photo subject matter, but after comments on my last posts, I couldn't resist showing this 6ft tall bronze fennel stand in all its glory:

Grasses & Perennials: 4 different kinds of hosta and 3 different heuchera are in bloom--only because I haven't gotten around to cutting down the stalks yet! (I would only leave them if they were scented.) 'Samobor' geranium and 'Copper King' lilies are blooming their last, and 'Rotstrahlbusch' switchgrass is just beginning to throw up a few airy plumes. Several other lilies are showing bud color now, 3 different lamiums are in bloom, and my non-climbing clematis has its first bloom, and the lavender cotton is covered in little yellow button flowers.

Several perennials are in prime flower now, though, starting with echinops ritro-I purposely sited this to take advantage of the contrast of the globe thistle against the silky miscanthus:

'Summerwine' Yarrow, which picks up the warm tones in both this rock and a nearby peachy-leaf heuchera:

'Cinderella' milkweed, which was started from seed generously shared by another garden blogger:

And another asclepias, the orange a. tuberosa (aka butterfly weed) which is (finally) living up to its common name this year, as you can see:

Annuals, tropicals and houseplants: These (okay, and leaf/texture color and contrast) really carry me through the month of July! My sanseviera has thrown up some more flower stalks this year, and two fuchsias were recently cut back or they would be adding to the party. 'Vodka' wax begonias, and red and magenta snapdragons, are dependable bloomers in my summer garden, along with the salvia mentioned above.

A few more plants in this category that keep catching my eye include the 'Vancouver Centennial' geranium and pretty callibrachoa in the urn planter. I can't wait until the brugmansia in the middle joins this party:

A dahlia that I just couldn't resist at the local garden center, although I think I like the blooms even better when they're darker and not yet fully open:

My crown of thorns plant, daringly placed at the top of my porch stairs because I like the way it looks against the brick:

An echeveria that blooms in all the colors of a gorgeous sunset. In fact, I think that Steve and I saw all of these shades on Monday as we were finishing up a post-volleyball walk at Edgewater Park:

One of my favorite self-sowers, 'Hopi Red Dye' amaranth:

Last but not least, more photos from those tile planters that I just can't seem to get enough of. 'Angelface Blue' angelonia:

'Yubi Red' portulaca blooms:

'Desert Sunrise' (I think?) lantana and a different portulaca:

And a close-up of the multicolored lantana blooms:

Maybe I should have lumped this last one in the with the edibles... but here are the first blooms on my Meyer (Improved) lemon. Even if I get nothing edible from them, I adore their sweet scent:

Okay, enough procrastination... time to get back outside and get back to work! (For me, at least.) When you get a free moment, check out what's blooming around the world via Carol's July Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post at May Dreams Gardens.

21 comments:

Happy Bloom Day! Your plants sure look happy. I can't even imagine 6 foot tall fennel. I love it, but I've heard rumors of rampant self-sowing. 'Cinderella' is such a lovely Milkweed, I wish my soil was moist enough for it. Your placement of the Crown of Thorns almost looks like it is acting as a deterrent to door-to-door solicitors. Hmmm, that's not a bad idea. To respond to you comments on my post: I highly recommend Calycanthus floridus 'Athens.' In addition to the scent, it blooms for a long time & has great yellow fall color. I think my purple Poppy is probably a 'Hungarian Blue' breadseed Poppy from seeds I sowed last year.

Kim, Have a good time gardening today--I can tell you've been working hard already...the garden looks great.Love, love, love the third photo with the echinops...It looks perfect with the miscanthus...what perfect blue globes. I have tried to grow the milkweed, but without success...I would happily water it...maybe I just need to find a place for it! Again, the garden looks wonderful, I love the chimney tile pots and have fun digging in your dirt...gail

Mr. McGregor's Daughter, those rumors are absolutely TRUE! The toughest part is that the bronze fennel babies are tough to see against the fine-textured compost/mulch I use, so they're often a good 6in tall before I see them to pull them out. At least they smell good while you're weeding them, right?

Thanks for the info on the calycanthus, btw. I left you another comment about that and the milkweed. :)

Amy Greenan, thank you! I really should show you some of the out-of-control areas right now, in all their thistle-y glory. :-P Those would serve as a "what not to do" kind of inspiration... lol.

Gail, this milkweed is one tough customer--I NEVER water it, and it's surviving just fine in my little prairie garden area! It might get taller with some water, though... I think it tops out at around 2ft for me here.

Those echinops ARE really amazing, aren't they?! Like something from another world... :)

Wow! Where to begin? Your butterfly weed is awesome. Such bright colors! And I do love the echinops as well. It's most sculptural and sure shows well. I bet that fennel has tons of butterfly caterpillars on it. It's wonderful. Your garden looks most nice. I hope you are enjoying outside. Severe thunderstorm here so I must hurry. Talk to you later!

My daughter has a bronze fennel, too, that dwarfs everything else in her flowerbed. I admire it everytime I visit!Would love to know the name of your dahlia, it IS lovely. (though I don't have much luck with them, it is always fun to try!)

I'm missing magenta snapdragons this summer. "My" nursery didn't have that color. It was a 'crop failure'. I have pink, yellow, orange and red though. Love them! Last year's pink self-sowed and a white one showed up..a nice little bonus :)The globe thistle combo is a real treat!My milkweed grows wild just over the bank and brings the Monarchs. I love the wild plants that look after themselves :) I pull them out of my gardens. Those flowerheads are gorgeous!I've never tried the orange butterfly weed. I should.Love that Dahlia!Yes, it is fun that we have almost identical containers. I like your additions too and will look forward to updates.I'd love some of that Angelonia. That's another one that seems hard to come by around here.I saw a lovely basket of the Yubi Reds at our friends' nursery. So bright and pretty!Salvia Black and Blue is another I want to try. So many...so little time!Wonderful Coleus colors in your tiles. Great combos!I hope you had a satisfying day in the garden. It's actually hot here today!! Yay!

So much awesomeness! I have the bronze fennel for the first time this year, but it hasn't flowered yet. Still just growing, basically. No caterpillars on it either. Which is fine for now. Maybe later. It's really the most exciting addition to the garden this year, which is kinda crazy.

Kim, your blossoms are beautiful. You have a wonderful variety, too! I'm always inspired to see others using annuals along with the perennials. That's something we need to do more of in our own garden. Thanks for sharing your beautiful garden. ~~Rhonda

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